2024 cybersecurity predictions: The continued rise of AI and regulation
The last 12 months have been seismic for cybersecurity, with successful hacks and breaches continuing to make front-page news. The task of keeping networks and data safe is an ever-evolving one, with hackers and cybersecurity professionals in a constant state of cat-and-mouse as they try to outsmart one another.
Events of the past year, including the widespread adoption of, and interest in, AI, as well as new geopolitical challenges, have had a profound impact. They provide some clues as to what 2024 might hold.
The tension between the CDO and the CISO: The balancing act of data exploitation versus protection
Data is the most valuable resource for the global enterprise. For any company wanting to remain relevant in today’s competitive business landscape, data needs to be at the center of every business decision, allowing the C-suite to review initiatives, make real-time decisions and if necessary reverse actions. A quick response fueled by real data insights will power and improve the customer experience and product offerings while driving lower prices through better efficiency. Ultimately, this will improve the bottom line and deliver successful outcomes for many organizations.
However, to unlock the true value of data, it is equally important that organizations ensure that confidential data is always secure. To achieve this, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), who acts as the gatekeeper to data to ensure it is compliant and secure, and the Chief Data Officer (CDO), who aims to unlock and exploit data, have different and competing priorities, yet they must be able to work together towards a common goal to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization and deliver great customer and business outcomes. There are significant benefits to be had when these two role holders work together and huge drawbacks when they don’t.
Keeping AI data and workloads secure and accessible
AI is already revolutionizing whole industries and professions. New applications and projects appear regularly across every sector, limited only it seems by the boundary of our own inspiration. That means that AI workloads will be critical to organizations across the board; the question is: how can we ensure AI applications are stable, secure and accessible?
Many companies depend on the trusted backup to ensure fail-safety and security against data loss and outages. From a data protection perspective this makes sense, however, backups aren’t best suited to business continuity and disaster recovery (DR), particularly for the most important data and workloads, such as AI.
The EU's AI Act: Good regulation, bad regulation or somewhere in between?
History is littered with knee-jerk legislation, enacted with good intentions and often in response to genuine public fear. If you have ever traveled to the USA, you may be familiar with the I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver form that must be completed before entry. Among a number of questions asked, one is ‘Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities -- Yes or No’. I’m sure many have often wondered whether those actually involved in such activities would be inclined to tick the ‘Yes’ box. This example effectively illustrates the challenges that all regulators and legislators should ask themselves at the outset, namely:
Are we doing this to address the problem or is it just a knee-jerk reaction to placate journalists and voters? (Remember that line from BBC political comedy Yes Minister -- “He’s suffering from Politician’s Logic. Something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it.”)
Predictions for GenAI adoption in 2024
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) entered the public consciousness and debate about one year ago. As a science, it goes back several years but as an applicable piece of software, it is very much in its infancy.
Text, images, and audio can be generated by GenAI models,but their integration into existing software tools worldwide is still in its early stages. Similarly, the majority of business leaders are only talking about GenAI, with some experimenting through proofs of concepts, while a small minority have deployed initial, and usually specific, use cases.
Five sustainability trends businesses will embrace in 2024
A sense of urgency to address climate change has led many businesses to commit to carbon neutrality or net-zero emissions by 2030, and many more by 2050, yet just 5 percent of the UK’s biggest companies have said how they plan to get there.
This disconnect between ambition and action is something my firm is out to solve through IT infrastructure. These are five of the biggest sustainability trends I believe businesses must pay attention to in 2024.
Death by a thousand cuts: How to prepare for the demise of third-party cookies
This year marks a pivotal moment in digital marketing. With Google Chrome recently initiating the phase-out of third-party cookies, impacting 1 percent of its users to start, a major shift is underway.
This change is particularly significant given that three-quarters of marketers currently use third-party cookies to design and implement their marketing campaigns. This begs the question: how will companies navigate this transition effectively? Fortunately, there are promising solutions to redefine marketing in this new era. Businesses don’t have to suffer a death by a thousand cuts in terms of the slow but steady decline in the utility of cookies. But to avoid it, there are a few steps that IT teams should take to help their organizations prepare.
A CISO's guide: Maximizing your first 30 days
It can be a challenging proposition to navigate your first 30 days as CISO. You have the responsibility of securing an entire company on your shoulders, and you know that without robust security infrastructure and processes, the organization is exposed to external threats, service restrictions and degradation, and insider risk.
To effectively guide your organization’s security posture, tackle your first 30 days with a strategic mindset and focus on the following three key priorities: taking in information, identifying quick wins, and implementing robust processes.
London calling: Hey, US, let's chat about cyber AI, the next WannaCry
In 2017, WannaCry caused significant disruption to the UK public and private sector. The disruption highlighted vulnerabilities within corporate and government systems, most notably within the UK. It impacted hospitals, healthcare facilities and social care, causing operations and admissions to be cancelled, delayed, or postponed.
The attack exposed a lack of robust cyber security measures, failings in basic IT administration and emphasized the importance of investing in strong defenses to safeguard critical public infrastructure. It prompted a renewed focus on cyber security within the UK and initiated efforts to enhance resilience against future cyber threats.
Why data will be the foundation for AI innovation in 2024
As we enter 2024, the data landscape is witnessing a surge of transformative changes, building on the significant advancements made in 2023. We’ve seen breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, Large Language Models (LLMs), enhanced data analytics capabilities, and notable strides in cloud computing.
These developments have not only reshaped how organizations are using data, but also started to redefine how organizations operate and strategize. Now, as we look forward to this year, the data landscape is set to evolve further, set against the backdrop of continuous AI innovation. From the consolidation of the AI market to revolutionary changes in data management, we're entering an era where data is not just a tool or a nice-to-have, but a driving force. With another year of revolutionary change ahead of us, here are the developments that will dictate data strategy in 2024.
Cyber Awareness Month needs an upgrade in 2024
Cyber awareness and Cyber Awareness Month (CAM) have faced allegations of fearmongering in the past, but this isn’t -- or shouldn’t be -- the case. At times, some vendors or individuals arguably exploit worries about cyber threats to market their products or convince people of their necessity.
But this is a delicate balance to strike. While it is true many security professionals are already struggling under the weight of their responsibilities, Cyber Awareness Month is a time for home truths. The grim reality is that cybercrime is getting worse. According to the Veeam Data Protection Trends Report 2023, 85 percent of organizations suffered at least one cyber-attack in the preceding twelve months, an increase from 76 percent experienced in the prior year. So, in many ways, our current approaches are failing. Does that mean Cyber Awareness Month is failing too?
AI and security: It is complicated but it doesn't need to be
AI is growing in popularity and this trend is only set to continue. This is supported by Gartner which states that approximately 80 percent of enterprises will have used generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) application programming interfaces (APIs) or models by 2026. However, AI is a broad and ubiquitous term, and, in many instances, it covers a range of technologies.
Nevertheless, AI presents breakthroughs in the ability to process logic differently which is attracting attention from businesses and consumers alike who are experimenting with various forms of AI today. At the same time, this technology is attracting similar attention from threat actors who are realising that it could be a weakness in a company’s security while it could also be a tool that helps companies to identify these weaknesses and address them.
How to maintain contact center operations during a crisis
As the prevalence of natural disasters and cyberattacks increases, it becomes essential that leaders prioritize robust infrastructure. Oftentimes, communications capabilities, including contact centers and customer service support lines, are the most vulnerable during emergencies -- which is exactly when these functions become most necessary.
Well-maintained and protected infrastructure is even more important when you consider the ramifications of an outage. Organizations take 212 days on average to detect a breach and 75 more days to contain it -- that means nearly a year of interrupted operations post-attack. During this time, consumers may be unable to receive critical, even life-saving information.
How to improve your chances of being insured against a cyber breach
Businesses rely heavily on technology to drive operational efficiency. While this has benefits, it also brings with it challenges and risks, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. As cyber threats continue to be a persistent concern for businesses there has been a marked surge in demand for cyber insurance as companies recognize the importance of financial protection in the face of data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other cybersecurity incidents. However, as the threat landscape evolves, so does the landscape of cyber insurance, with insurers raising the bar on their security requirements.
While this is a concern for businesses that want to ensure that they are insured against potential security risks, there are a few considerations that can help improve their risk profile ahead of a potential breach or attack. Fundamental to this is cyber resilience within the broader framework of operational resilience.
Why AI Is finally catching up with financial services
Generative AI has the potential to reshape entire industries and how they operate, and financial services stand out as uniquely poised for AI-driven transformation. McKinsey & Company calls generative AI the next frontier for productivity, estimating that analyzing natural language text -- a core generative AI use case -- accounts for an average of 25 percent of the time people spend in any given enterprise.
The finance industry is a data-driven industry, so it’s no surprise that finance sector firms see big potential in using generative AI to tackle use cases that require assessing enormous amounts of unstructured data, such as company due diligence, know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, sustainability research, and controversy monitoring.
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